Darren's Last Chance
by Pyro'sBest
Summary: Only in death can Darren find his peace... but the world's not letting him go that easily. Darren and friends are forced on yet another quest, with new and old foes. Through it all can Darren finally find his happiness?
1. Chapter 1: In Extremis

**Disclaimer: This goes for the whole story, I own nothing!**

_**IMPORTANT:**_** So I have changed this story yet again. The plot changed alot in my head so the beginning chapters no longer fit, I wouldn't have been able to carry on with the last version because I didn't like it, you wouldn't have liked it and I would have just run myself into the ground writing a story I no longer enjoyed. I hope you understand my reasons for re-writing. **

**For Cirque du Freak, the story starts in the middle of Sons of Destiny: after Darren kills Steve and they are in the river; for Twilight it is set about two thirds of the way into Eclipse, before the 'battle-that-isn't-really-a-battle-at-all' and just after the graduation party. **

**With thanks to: **My amazing beta _With The What Now_**  
Song suggestion: **Sick Cycle Carousel by Lifehouse**  
****Chapter 1: **In Extremis**  
Darren POV**

_And then, in the lonely, watery darkness of the river, as all must do when the Grim Reaper calls – I died._

There was white. And there was only white. It encompassed me, surrounded me, suffocated me. It was bright on my heightened senses but not uncomfortably so, like it should have been. I blinked a few times, wondering where my body and my mind were, if I even had a body right now. The experimental wiggle of my toes sure felt like I did.

Was this the lake of souls? I could imagine going crazy in this place, the whiteness of it all would do my head in after a while. Was this paradise? Heaven? Hell even?

"Darren! Darren!" I propped myself up on my elbows, expecting pain that didn't arrive.

"Mr Crepsley…?" And there he was, in all his hideous, singed ginger glory. "Is that you?" I asked, sure now that this was some sort of after life since my ex-mentor was also/should have been dead.

I realised that there wasn't actually a floor. In fact, I was lying on something that wasn't there… but I could feel it and it was the thing that was holding me up. It was both there and not there in the exact same moment, much like the whiteness that surrounded me: both crushing and none existent at the same time. It was hard to think about so I concentrated on more pressing matters.

Mr Crepsley was gripping my shoulders and looking at me like he couldn't believe I was here either. During the time we had spent apart, I'd almost forgotten how ugly he was. It was hard to look at him but I couldn't pull my eyes away.

"Where are we?"

"I do not know." Mr Crepsley answered.

"Dead?" I asked, my voice surprisingly calm.

"Again, I do not know."

There was a rippling sensation over my skin like I was being watched. It was hard to gauge distance but Mr Tiny was walking towards us, both taking too long and arriving far too quickly for my liking. He looked positively furious, his body giving off an odd red glow.

"So," he hissed, poking the remains of my wet t-shirt with a scorching hot finger, "You thought you could trick me, did you? You planned this from the beginning, as soon as you found out! Didn't you? Didn't you?" He enunciated each sentence with another little jab in the chest.

"And to think you were always the one I wanted to win, but you double crossed me, didn't you?" He was jabbing at me with every word now. "This is my game!" He yelled, "Only I can change the rules!"

"What do you mean?" I yelled back.

"I even brought you your little friend here." He gestured to Mr Crepsley as you would to a stray dog.

"What are you on about? I'm dead!" I shouted in bewilderment.

"Oh, far from it." He hissed again. "You shall be punished for your deceit my son, that I can promise!" His declaration left me without a response but I wouldn't have been able to say it anyway.

In the split second after he finished speaking, the 'floor' that I was/wasn't standing on gave away and I plummeted downwards, my mouth forced open with surprise.

* * *

Both Mr Crepsley and I were thrown into the same tree wherever we landed. It wasn't old and strong enough yet so it buckled and fell backwards from the impact, nearly taking out a few others along the way. I both felt and heard my shoulder dislocating and then relocating itself at the wrong angle, my body went into spasm from the excruciating pain but my mouth wouldn't work the way I wanted it to, producing only feeble moans.

Mr Crepsley's body was slumped next to mine, our legs tangled together.

We were in some type of forest consisting mainly of pine trees covered in squishy green moss. It was eerily quite after the falling of the tree though my oversensitive ears would have been able to make out the small rustlings of animals in the undergrowth if they hadn't been overridden by the agony. I thought Larten had been knocked unconscious until his eyes opened.

We sat there, watching each other for a good ten minutes, breathing laboured, joints clicking at any attempted movement then groans of pain. Finally, using the surrounding branches for support, I tried to heave myself up off the ground but my deadened left arm was unresponsive from the elbow down and the pain in my right shoulder was too intense for it to be put to any purpose. My clothes were wet and my sodden hair dripped into my eyes, the chill of the water and a strong breeze that carried our scent downwind made me shiver.

The pain and the fatigue were so strong right now that death would have been a relief. But the relief was already on it's way for me, my semi-cognitive hand was clutching the gaping hole in my stomach in a failing attempt to minimise blood loss. I didn't know how long it would take for me to bleed to death in this state.

"What a pair we make." Said Mr Crepsley and chuckled dryly, he placed a hand on my knee (which surprisingly didn't hurt that much). It seemed that he wasn't as injured as myself although his shredded palm left blood marks on my trousers. It also seemed that he hadn't realised the extent of my current situation.

And since death seemed so imminent for me despite Mr Tiny's words, I knew that I should try to enjoy with these last few minutes of peace I had left with my old un-dead mentor without worrying him. It took effort but I plastered on a strained, glad smile and raised my shaking hand to place it atop of his. It took much more effort than should have been necessary.

"I missed you Sire." He said stiffly and hugged me to him tightly. The pain forced my mouth open in a silent scream that came out as a wheeze.

"I missed you too." I mumbled once he let me go, my body rocked back limply without any input of my own "Mangy, old bat." I croaked, trying another weak smile; I couldn't feel my facial muscles enough to tell if it worked. I rested my head back and closed my eyes, trying to find peace in this last moment but there were too many things I needed to say and do for me to find comfort.

"Some more scars there I see." He commented lightly but I didn't have the energy to re-open my eyes. "You are taller too. And broader how long has it been since I-?"

"I don't really know." I cut him off. "A year and a half maybe?" I could feel his gaze on me, no doubt trying to see how I could have aged that much in such a short amount of time. "The purge." I answered to his unasked question, it was a struggle to get my words out. There was no response so I assumed he'd nodded or done something to that effect.

"So you are a full vampire now?" Mr Crepsley asked. I started to shake my head but the pain travelled down my neck into my shoulder and I stopped.

"I was still going through it when I died…sort of died…" I corrected myself as an after thought and forcibly made my eyes open to peek sideways at him. He was nodding. My toes and fingers were starting to go numb and there was a tingling sensation in my lips. My end was coming, I could feel it yet I clung stubbornly to the last shreds of my life to spend more time with the man who had become more of a father figure to me than my biological father.

My faltering heartbeats felt precious now they were so numbered. I think I preferred my _earlier death_ – if that made any sense at all. Before, I was so pumped full of adrenalin, I was caught up in the fight and though it was my personal choice to die, it was an obligation because the other option was unspeakable. I wasn't given the time to regret anything and I felt in control because I had decided to let Steve stab me, now I was waiting for the end. And we all know how bad waiting for something is. I had the time to think now of all the things I'd never be able to do.

_Thank you, _I wanted to say, _thank you for everything you've done for me. You've been given a second chance, whatever life this, wherever we are, please do something with it, enjoy it, because I won't be able to. _The words crouched under my tongue but my fatigued brain couldn't find the controls to make them leave. My lips were numb now and my teeth rattled around inside my skull, chattering uselessly from the cold.

"Larten," I whisper-said, licking my suddenly parched lips and forcing the words out despite the haziness that felt like a cloud had taken up residence inside my mind.

"Shhh!" He cut me off holding a hand up in the general motion for silence. But I needed to say this to him, before I wouldn't be able to.

"Thank y-"

He shushed me again so I tried my last little speech for a third time but there was no volume to my voice and my mouth opened sluggishly, allowing me only an incomprehensible slur. There was a black spot obscuring half of the vision from my right eye, it slowly grew in size. That growing blackness terrified me, because it was my timer, it told me how many mere seconds I had left until the eclipse of the blackness over my eyes would be complete and I would reach my final end.

I briefly considered if this was what Mr Tiny had meant by punishment, sending me off to all different scenarios to spend only a few minutes there where I would experience the terror of dying over and over again. Because dying _was_ terrifying. There was time to think and regret and feel sorry and be strangely _disappointed._

"I can hear voices." Whispered Mr Crepsley. I could only just hear his voice over the ringing in my ears but didn't try to listen to these voices. It made me wonder again where we – soon to be just he – were, we could be on another planet for all I knew, another universe, who knows how many little domains Mr Tiny had created to wreak his havoc in. The trees looked similar to those back on Earth but other life forms could look like anything for all I knew.

I forced my eyes open, not remembering when I'd closed them, the black shape was still there but as I blinked it changed, becoming smaller, then larger, then smaller again. I realised the view was slanted for some reason and the pain in my shoulder told me it was because I'd slumped down the trunk a little. I couldn't remember when this had happened either.

My hand felt warm with the blood as it trickled out of me. My life line, pulsing through my fingers; slipping away from me onto the cold damp floor.

Mr Crepsley was whispering something in my ear and I had to concentrate hard to hear it over the ringing. "-wary about other humans but we…-dical atten…-ly hope…-on, I…-you up."

My mind was wandering along with my eyes, they gravitated towards the sky which seemed very far away right now. The tops of the spindly trees swayed with the strong breeze, creaking ominously as if every single one of them was about to collapse at the same time. It was making me dizzy but I was smiling dopily at what could be my last view of the sky, so dull and grey and _so very, very beautiful. _

The throbbing pain that I had accepted turned into a intense, stabbing pain as something tugged harshly on my left arm. The pain brought me back from the edge, quietening the ringing in my ears and making the darkness over my eyes recede a little.

I wanted to tell whoever it was to stop because I wanted the release. And with every touch, there was more pain which brought me further and further away from that release.

Mr Crepsley was standing in front of me, gripping the tops of my arms and hauling me off the ground into vaguely standing position. My body was gasping from the pain but I wasn't in control of it anymore. My legs and fingers where still numb so I couldn't tell if I was standing on anything. I swayed when Mr Crepsley let my go, swayed like the _so very spindly trees all around us _but he caught me again before I would face-plant.

I blinked owlishly, still clutching the sodden remains of my ex-shirt to the hole in my stomach with red coloured fingers that I couldn't feel.

"Darren, Darren?" Mr Crepsley asked, something in my mind registered that we were the same height now. "We need to move. Come on." He pulled my left arm round his shoulders which stretched out my side and therefore my wound. I moaned.

The sound of my own pain gave me back my drifting mind though my eyeballs were still nomadic in their sockets. It made me dizzy again and I thought I was going to puke.

I coaxed my paralysed legs into a indistinct stumble which left me sweating and wobbly. Mr Crepsley was more dragging me than anything else but the hobble he'd acquired stretched my battered body out further so that every sag of my legs was a fresh wave of pain. And that pain was the only thing keeping me in consciousness. It gave me back my sight and my hearing and the feeling was returning to my legs and fingers.

I realised that he had puncture marks all over his legs, not as deep as if he had landed on the stakes fully, but where the tips had penetrated his skin. It made me curious as to how Mr Tiny would have 'saved' us but I pushed the thought away for now.

The pins and needles started after a while. It started as a prickling sensation on my scalp that soon covered my entire body surface and made me feel like my skin was alive. Noises made themselves known to my ears, talking but my brain couldn't function enough to make anymore of them than background noise.

Only the change in light levels made me realise we'd reached a clearing. I tried to raise my hand to shield my eyes from the harsh glare of the overcast sky but it wouldn't respond so I made do with squinting. I could make out the rough shapes of two beings but they could have had three heads for all I cared right now.

Mr Crepsley was saying something to them but the ringing was back in my ears. The figures were moving, one seemingly too fast and the other seemingly too slow, they were heading towards us and the shapes turned into colours and then distinctly human looking faces. There was a girl and a really pale guy with strangely coloured hair though that could have been my eyes right now.

Mr Crepsley let go of me for a second but my feet couldn't feel the ground and my legs couldn't hold my weight. I tried to stop myself from falling but my arms wouldn't respond either so I fell to the floor like an overbalanced mannequin. I landed on my dislocated shoulder and the pain just blended into the rest.

I was rolled onto my back by foreign hands. Mr Crepsley was looming over my head but he was looking elsewhere, his mouth forming words which I could only partly hear. "Please…hospital…help…" Cold fingers were exploring the hole in my stomach just when I thought the pain couldn't get any worse.

"I…my father…"

But the rest was swallowed by the ringing.

I'd never much cared about the weather before but now as I gazed up at the unyielding clouds I wished for the sun, one last glimpse at that far away glowing ball of gas before I died. My last sight.

Mr Crepsley was still kneeling over me and I needed to let him know how much he'd done for me during my vampiric years. I needed him to know. He wasn't looking at me and my tongue lolled inside my mouth. I tried anyway.

"Th…" I licked my lips. "Th-nk…Th-k y-y-y…"

And I decided that this really was a worse way to die.


	2. Chapter 2: Hospitality

**A/N: Okay so I've re-written this chapter too, like the last one. Unlike the last chapter however, this storyline has changed although not too dramatically it's just been spread out but you will probably confuse yourself if you don't read it. Don't forget to tell me what you think and which version you thought was better if you have any preferences. **

**Disclaimer: Characters belong to Darren Shan and Stephenie Meyer, I own nothing – not even this pen [holds up pen]…I borrowed it from my teacher then forgot to give it back – whoops…**

**What has happened so far because I hate it in stories where I can't remember what's happened in previous chapters and have to go back and read them: **Darren and Mr Crepsley have been sent by Mr Tiny to a strange land that they don't know anything about when they both should be dead. Darren and Mr C come across Edward and Bella in the meadow asking for medical supplies. They have a stand off and Darren faints.

**Song Suggestion: **Sick Cycle Carousel by Lifehouse**  
Chapter 2: **Hospitality**  
Third Person POV**

IF YOU CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT'S HAPPENED, READ THE **(What has happened so far)** PART AT THE TOP IN THE A/N BECAUSE I KNOW MANY OF YOU WILL HAVE SKIPPED OVER THAT BIT.

Edward ran beside the strange man he had only just met silently. Bella clung to his back, her scent surrounding him tantalizingly though he would never be able to do anything about it.

The father carried his unconscious son (as Edward assumed they were since – curiously – he could not read either of their minds) carefully but easily in his outstretched arms.

The father really was hideous and Edward realised that he did not yet know his name. He had a scar that ran from his forehead down his cheek, crossing over his eyelid and joining the lines together when he blinked. His face was covered in scratches and burns and was blackened with soot. He ran with a heavy limp and almost stagger but kept pace though in obvious pain.

Edward ran (relatively) slowly to help but had the feeling that when possible, the man could reach speeds that Edward could never have dreamt of.

He berated himself over and over again for not seeing the two of them coming. It was obvious now, both their steady heartbeats but their thoughts were still unknown. Like Bella's. He really needed to stop relying on that ability as much as he did.

Their free-flowing blood did not reach out to him nearly as much as it should have either; the strength both of them seemed to possess was insane! Despite outside appearances, it was clear that, whatever they were, they were definitely not human.

Edward was wary of the couple, despite their injuries. They needed medical help desperately and Carlisle was the closest by far. He could not believe he was thinking of bringing them home, but he was.

He was fairly certain that his family would be able to overpower them if a situation arose. There was just something odd about those two. A father on son, wandering round in a forest in the middle of nowhere, one soaked and bleeding, the other singed and scratched. Nope, nothing suspicious about them at all.

--

It was slow progress but the house eventually came into view. Mr Crepsley tried not to look too awed by the great white mansion ahead. Edward still caught it.

"Pretty impressive eh?" He joked lightly, trying lightly to be somewhat friendly.

Mr Crepsley nodded slowly. A tiny girl was standing (more like bouncing) in the open doorway; she too was beautiful and had the same inhuman air that Edward carried. Mr Crepsley was starting to wonder – any worry – how many of these being there were.

"Alice!" Edward called out to her in a voice that a human wouldn't have been able to hear from the distance.

"It's already done. Carlisle is waiting in his office for the boy." Her voice was soft and high and just as lilting as Edwards. Edward nodded beside Mr Crepsley; they were almost at the door by now. The statement confused Larten though he was reluctant to comment and appear rude towards apparent their kindness.

The girl hopped down from the boy's back, stumbling lightly before he steadied her then stepped inside the house, passing Alice.

"Please follow me." Said Edward with a small smile, attempting at friendliness before stepping inside the house. Mr Crepsley did as he asked, forcing a smile at the girl on the door and nodding at her courteously.

The bottom floor of the house – as far as Larten could tell – was open plan. There was a back wall completely made out of glass revealing the trees beyond in the darkening afternoon light. There was a huge staircase straight ahead that wound up to some unknown space.

The human was just walking into a brightly lit living room towards the right that made Larten want to cover his eyes from the brightness of. Everything was white. There were many others also in the living room, they were watching the television, but had all turned round to look at him as he entered. The television would have been too quiet for human ears but it was automatically turned up as she entered; no body had even looked round to do so.

There was a large open space to his left that contained another sofa and chair and near the back wall was a huge black grand piano. Mr Crepsley took in all of the tiny minute details around the room as a habit. Always wary. Always cautious. His eyes scrutinized aspects of everything, remembering every detail on the faces of the nine other people in the room. Decades upon decades of living like he did had taught him to be constantly on edge. You could never trust someone. Not fully. Especially under these circumstances. For all he knew, these mysterious creatures call all be put here by Desmond Tiny, he wouldn't put it past the little man.

Larten's ears listened out carefully, there were three heart beats he could make out, two more human sounding and one lots faster and lighter – like a birds. Curiously however there was also the sound of many more breaths being taken. There was the electric hum of appliances, a fridge, the TV, possibly a computer somewhere close by and upstairs there was the tell tale ruffling of fabric of someone (or something) moving about. Pacing maybe?

"Up here." Edward motioned to him, one foot already on the bottom step.

Mr Crepsley followed after him silently. As soon as he was out of sight, the whispers began.

"Carlisle is my father of sorts." Explained Edward during their brief ascent. "He is a doctor for humans at the local hospital. I don't think you could have run into any better people than us. Darren will be in good hands." _Yes, no better people to run into. Tiny had to have planned this!_

Larten smiled more naturally now despite his thoughts. "Thank you for your help." He said quietly. "I do not know how I shall repay you." _If I shall still be alive to repay you. _His cynical and suspicious mind added again.

Just then they entered Carlisle's study. It was as magnificent and grand as the rest of the house but not quite as white which was a pleasant respite for Mr Crepsley's eyes from the glare.

"Alice has alerted me to the situation." Interjected Carlisle before either of the other two men could speak. He was tall and blond and beautiful and the same as almost all the others in the house which was becoming a more worrying threat to Larten. "I understand the boy needs help." He motioned towards the makeshift operating table erected in the middle of the floor, slipping into the no-nonsense-doctor side of his character.

Mr Crepsley was reluctant to surrender Darren's fate to these as of yet unknown beings. Carlisle saw this.

"I am a professional." He assured the other man. "The boy will not be at all harmed. I give you may word on that."

Mr Crepsley raised his eye brows and narrowed his eyes still untrusting but laid Darren down on the table nonetheless. He really was in dire shape.

Carlisle set to work immediately, checking vital signs whilst Edward dashed round the room, firstly scrubbing his hands clean and collecting strange looking medical equipment to put on a tray which he brought to his fathers side. Larten watched carefully and silently from the side.

Carlisle then went to wash his hands in the basin by the wall as well and returned, rolling the sleeves of his perfectly crisp black shirt to the elbows as he did so. Larten tensed as the man picked up scissors but didn't intervene when he began cutting what was left of Darren's clothes away from his body and scanning for injuries.

All the onlookers hissed when the boy was carefully rolled over to display the enormous scar that ran the length from in between is shoulder blades to curve down to his right hip. It wasn't deep but it was near an inch and a half wide and bright scarlet.

There were only a few light grazes on his back, but a deep cut on his elbow. There were nicks all over his forearms and stomach and chest. Scratches covered his face that looked like they had been done with…fingernails? And bruising was forming either side of his nose from two black eyes. **(A/N: These ****are**** the wounds Darren has in the last book. I checked.) **

His trousers were cut away next and then his boxers but seeing no damage there, a dark green sanitary blanket was thrown over his lower half for modesty.

Carlisle then took a syringe from the tray and a small vial of liquid.

"What is that?!" asked Mr Crepsley suddenly alarmed as the doctor started to draw the liquid from it. Carlisle looked questioning at the man's outburst then understanding of his wariness.

"It's an anaesthetic." He replied calmly, holding the little bottle up to Larten to show his the official sticker on the side with the name on. Larten acted as if he was reading the label (though in truth he was illiterate) and calculated the odds that it was actually an anaesthetic like the doctor said it was. He came to the conclusion that it was genuine otherwise he wouldn't have shown it.

Carlisle bent over, about to insert the needle into Darren's skin when he paused and withdrew. He turned to Mr Crepsley.

"Frankly, it is quite obvious from what I've heard that you two are not human." Mr Crepsley nodded stiffly. "It does not matter to me, as I'm sure you can tell, we aren't either but, will Darren's body react the same to treatment?" He asked. "There aren't any strange things I should know about are there?"

"Our bodies react the same as humans as far as I've ever found out," he clarified, "but we heal faster."

"Splendid!"

Mr Crepsley nodded in agreement again and Carlisle proceeded to inject Darren. He set to work straight after on the still gushing wound in Darren's side, moving at a vampiric pace as there was no need for keeping up appearances whilst Edward supported him, passing the needed instruments without any instruction that Larten could tell of and helping mop away blood with a soon scarlet cloth.

Edward set to work on the gash at Darren's elbow before long which was also staining the paper he lay on a wonderful red. "I never got to thank you earlier." Started Edward not looking away from his work.

Mr Crepsley didn't look away from his watching of their work as he questioned: "What do you need to thank me for?"

"You were only looking out for my Bella when you…attacked me…Though the gesture was unneeded." So the girl had a name.

"It was no problem." Larten replied with a smile.

He studied Darren silently while keeping a watchful eye on both of the other's work. He really had aged a lot since he had last seen him. He was even taller and broader than he'd first thought…maybe 6"1' or 2', so much more of a man now than the fifteen year old boy he looked like before. He looked like he could be somewhat nearer his true mental age now, about twenty? Mr Crepsley mentally counted the years and came to the conclusion that it was _around_ that point.

There were more scars than he'd first realised, amongst existing ones. The burn marks from his trails were still there, the scarred pink flesh climbing up his calves and thighs and back, even some lighter ones on his neck. Was he slightly _tanned _too? It could be quite old though, at the rate they aged it would be a long time before it faded from his skin.

Edward was again the first to speak when he asked: "May I?" He had noticed Darren's thumb, bent at an alarming angle, obviously broken at some point in the past and never set back into place properly. Larten nodded, remembering how much it had annoyed Darren prior to death. There was a quick snap as Edward broke the bone along the fissure line that had formed before and then he strapped it up carefully along with the rest of the hand to keep it immobilised.

Another ten minutes later of working at vampire speed and finally all wounds were cleaned, stitched where needed and dressed. All mud, blood, and grime from the river had been washed away and Darren was wearing a loose pair of broad shorts borrowed from a certain 'Jasper'.

"Thank you so much." Said Mr Crepsley carefully as they all looked down on the still unconscious Darren, now clean and peaceful instead of battered and bedraggled.

"It is no problem Mr…I'm sorry I don't even know your name."

"Crepsley. Larten Crepsley. And this is my son, Darren." He replied easily.

"Well, it is nice to meet you Larten. It really was quite lucky you ran into us then hum?" He held out his hand for Mr Crepsley to shake.

"Yes and again thank you so much for treating Darren." Larten replied and slipped his hand into the awaiting one.

"Talking of treating injuries, are you sure you wouldn't like me to take a look at you too?" Carlisle offered, ever generous.

"No, no really, I will be fine; you have done so much already." Mr Crepsley protested, ever shy of any fuss to be made.

"Nonsense!" Declared Carlisle and all but pushed the gruff looking man into a chair, not used to the amount of effort he had to put in to do so. He propped his leg up on a foot stool to get a better look the ankle. It was twisted into a strange position, about twice the size it would usually be and black and blue all over. There was a huge gouge going from his heal halfway up his calf where one of the stakes from the pit had punctured his leg before he had suddenly disappeared from there and into the strange white world of Mr Tiny's creation. It was blackened with soot and there were burns all over. The gouge itself however had been quite lucky, it had missed the bone and ligaments by mere millimetres.

Even Edward sucked the air in between his teeth upon seeing it and immediately brought over a fresh tray with clean implements. "Good God man! How did you stand up on this, let alone walk?" Exclaimed Carlisle, he marvelled at the man's tenacity.

"I have had worse." Remarked Larten with a casual shrug. And it was the truth, not modesty.

"I'm going to need to anaesthetize you or at least numb your leg in some way." Carlisle started.

"It is seriously unnecessary." Carlisle gave the man a look that said he was going to do something about it, whether he wanted to or not. "Okay you may stitch up the wound but please, no anaesthetics." Larten finally bargained albeit very reluctantly. he would have to suffer the pain, there would be no way he would let both him _and_ Darren be unconscious at the same time.

"No anaesthetics then, at least take these." Carlisle passed him two bright pink capsules showing the name on the box like before. "They are pain killers." He clarified.

Larten swallowed them together.

"Sorry, but this is still going to hurt no matter how many of those you take." Warned the doctor, as he took a medicated cloth in hand and the process started again, first cleaning, and then stitching and so forth. Larten gritted his teeth against the sting of the antiseptic and instead tried to separate his mind from thinking of his leg by concentrating on applying his spit to his shredded hands from where he'd grabbed Steve's spiked chain.

Edward stared at the man licking his palms for a moment before said man looked up sensing the gaze. There were several huge chunks of flesh missing from the man's palm and he was _licking it clean!!!_

"My saliva contains a natural healing property." Larten told the boy simply.

"At least let me stitch the wounds closed first!"

"Fine." He said unwillingly suspecting that even more fuss would be kicked up if he didn't hand his palm over.

There was very little to distract him from the pain now. The fingers of his less severely injured right hand curled into a tight fist and his toes curled up instinctively.

The muttering was still going on downstairs, there were seven voices to be heard. Only two sounded vaguely human.

Carlisle was across the other side of the room then back in another half second with bandages for Larten's foot but Larten had already beaten him there. He sat now rubbing spit into the stitched wound that was scabbing over before their eyes. He then did the same to his left palm and the burns that licked up his legs and some other smaller scratches along his forearms.

"Oh." Said Carlisle.

"Now I really do insist on no bandages, it's just easier this way." Replied Mr Crepsley as sternly as he could without appearing rude.

"Okay. As long as you wear this support for your ankle, it's waterproof and won't get in your way and it is very necessary!" Carlisle bargained.

Once the ankle strap was in place, Larten was forced to remove his shirt to placate Carlisle's worries that he was further injured. There were only scratches along his stomach and chest, much like those on his face and neck and arms and…well, everywhere. Luckily for Larten, none of them were too serious for more action to be warranted.

Both Carlisle and Edward gasped again at the sheer number of scars when they saw his shirtless top half. He was incredibly muscled, even when sitting relaxed and easily as tall as Emmett's 6"3'.

Suddenly, the girl from the door – Alice – walked in holding a fresh bundle of clothes. "I took the liberty of finding you some new clothes to wear." She said, holding out the bundle to Larten with a bright smile.

"No, really," he protested, "my cape will do fine I will-" he picked up the cape and half of the blackened, singed material dropped to the floor.

Alice shoved the clothes in his hand. "There you go; they're Emmett's so they'll fit."

Larten Crepsley was overwhelmed by their hospitality despite his constantly vigilant mind. "Thank you." Was all he could say again.

"Shall we move Darren to a guest room?" _A__ guest room? How many did they have? _"I think he should be more comfortable there."

Carlisle carefully lifted Darren; he was amazingly light for the strength they possessed. Larten limped along behind. Their constant generosity was astounding though he remained sceptical. You never know when someone's going to double cross you.

They went up another flight of stairs to the third and highest floor and Larten courteously opened the door for Carlisle to enter ahead of him. Like the rest of the house, it was huge. The room was painted a very light blue with a dark blue band following all the walls just below the white curtain rail. There was a wooden king-sized bed in the middle with corresponding blue sheets, a matching wooden bed side table, yet another couch and a wardrobe that in turn matched the bed and the table. His bare feet seemed to sink into the fluffy cream carpet. He took another step. It was like walking on clouds.

Two large windows were on the wall opposite the door and on the far left-hand wall, there was a white door leading to somewhere unknown. As had become instinct for almost all the vampiric population, as soon as he entered, Larten calculated the easiest five ways to escape. It paid to be cautious.

The room smelt of fresh linen and pine and the sweet scent that penetrated the entire house and curiously soap.

"You are welcome to the shower to wash away all that soot." Said Carlisle as he lowered Darren onto the bed, "The bathroom is just through that door, there should be clean towels in there already and soap in the tray."

"I do not know how Darren and I shall repay you for your hospitality. I-"

"Just go have your shower, then you can come down and meet the rest of my family." Carlisle cut him off then promptly turned on his heel and left. Larten followed to the closed door and slid the small bolt across. It wouldn't stop them if needed of course but it was something. You can never be too careful.

**A/N: So as you can see, this chapter is about three times the length of the first version, but only about a third of the storyline of the first version. Weird huh?**

**I have created a NEW POLL about this story. If you like it, go vote, go vote! **

**So the story line of the first version isn't changing, it's just going to be handled lots better than it was before because, quite honestly, that version was crappy. And it is going to be spread out into the next chapter too. **

**Don't forget to tell me what you think and which versions of the chapters you prefer. **

**I'm writing this whilst I should technically be at school but...dun dun dun! SNOW DAY! Only one day back after the holidays and already off again! I'm looking outside my window at the huge amounts of snow coming down on what's already there and as soon as I post this I am going to don my thermals and go have a snowball fight with my big sis and insane border collie and possibly do some sledging. Good times!**

**Review if you love snow days too! (If you get snow wherever you are that is.) **

**Happy 2010 everyone!**


	3. Chapter 3: Imposibilities

**Disclaimer: Characters belong to Darren Shan and Stephanie Meyer; I own nothing – not even my soul…its amazing what you can sell on eBay… :P  
**

**What has happened so far:** Darren and Mr Crepsley run into Edward and Bella in the woods after they are sent into the 'Twilight' world. Darren passes out and is brought back to the Cullen mansion where Carlisle treats them both.

**Song Suggestion:** Sick Cycle Carousel by Lifehouse**  
Chapter 3:** Impossibilities**  
Third Person POV**

The hot water of the shower was glorious against Larten Crepsley's back once the sting of the heat on his skin and the water on the cuts had disappeared. Even though he'd finished washing himself, he could have quite easily stood there for a whole lot longer. Piano notes continued to soar up through the house to meet his sensitive ears with the low mumble of their voices although it was impossible to distinguish words over the noise of the piano and the beating of the water against the shower tray.

The melody of the music being played was beautiful but he started to wonder, now that he could no longer hear what they were saying, if the music was being used specifically for that purpose. Growing even more suspicious that usual, Larten decided to get out. He dressed in the clothes the girl had given him and like she had predicted they fit perfectly. With a lingering sigh at the old thing, he threw the blackened, sooty, shredded cloak in the bin with his old trousers.

The dark blue jeans and black shirt were not what he'd usually wear and felt odd though he didn't find them uncomfortable. First he checked Darren's still unconscious form; he had goosebumps over his arms and chest showing out from where the blanket didn't cover. Larten pulled the blanket up and then tucked it in gently around his assistant. He smelt wrong. It was only a faint hint of something but it just didn't smell right. Larten put it down to the lingering anaesthetic.

Feet bare upon the fluffy carpet, he left the bedroom and shut the door carefully. He descended the stairs, wincing every now and then and using the handrail for support.

The chatter grew quieter and quieter the further down the stairs he got and by the time he had reached the bottom everyone was looking at him. Edward and the girl from the meadow – Bella – were sitting at the piano. Bella sat in his lap with her arms around his neck and Edward's hands rested on the keys either side of her body though the music had ceased.

Carlisle was in the kitchen with an arm wrapped around a blonde woman's waist. There were four in lounge type area, two on the sofa and two on the floor. Then on the sofa against the wall the other side of the staircase, there was the Alice girl holding hands with another young man.

All seemed to be couples (apart from the little girl and the huge dark guy).

"Larten!" Exclaimed Carlisle merrily after a moment's awkward silence_. Was that guy always happy? _Mr Crepsley forced a smile; he never liked to be the centre of attention and squinted his eyes against the glare from the all white furnishings. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, it is just that my eyes are a little sensitive." Replied Larten.

"Oh, okay. Here, come meet the family." Said Carlisle warmly, ushering him over to the island that separated the kitchen part from the living room where everybody had immediately gravitated to and was either sitting on the floor or an a sofa or on somebody else's lap. He altered the switches on the wall as he passed and the lights dimmed low. Larten stopped squinting and smiled genuinely in appreciation.

"I take it you already know Edward, and Isabella, and Alice." Carlisle started, motioning to the three who either smiled or nodded in acknowledgement. "Now this is Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Renesmee, Jacob," he addressed them all in turn, the closest shook hands and the others either nodded or smiled or waved "and this is Esme, my wife." He finished.

Larten turned to the woman standing next to Carlisle ready to shake her outstretched hand too. It was the first time he'd looked at her fully and this close up. She was beautiful like the rest of them and even with blonde hair bore an uncanny resemblance to someone very close to Larten's heart.

"Hello?" Esme repeated when Larten stared at her blankly for a moment. Slower than the others, he placed his hand in hers.

"I am sorry, you just remind me of someone I used to know." Images of Arra flooded his mind but he quashed them viciously. Jasper tilted his head curiously at the quick surge of emotion that rolled off the man.

"Don't worry about it." Said Esme kindly. Mr Crepsley reclaimed his hand. All of theirs had been ice cold just like Edward's and Carlisle's had been before.

"Welcome to the Cullen household. As Edward said before, these scoundrels are our adopted children." Carlisle motioned to everyone with a proud fatherly smile. "Well, except for Jake and Bella, though they too will soon be part of the family."

Larten took in all the information, secretly making a file about each individual in his mind, storing away all the information as had been drilled into him over the years and proved often to be very useful.

"He's sceptical," whispered Jasper into Edward's ear, "he's slightly confused and he doesn't trust us." Larten's head whipped round to stare in confusion and mild irritation at the younger blond man. _How in hell?_

"With apparently very good hearing." Edward said loudly. Jasper's head whipped round, all the others had heard what he'd said too apart from Bella who felt a little left out as usual when things like this happened.

Mr Crepsley's brow furrowed. First Alice's seemingly psychic announcements, then Edward being able to know exactly what Carlisle wanted without any verbal communication and now Jasper too. He started to feel threatened.

"Some of us have special talents." Carlisle stepped in, sensing the tension. "Four of us to be exact, Alice, Edward, Jasper, and Nessie."

Mr Crepsley's confusion only increased. "I can see the future." Piped in Alice. "That's how I warned Carlisle you and Darren would be coming here."

"I can feel the emotions of others and manipulate them…sorry." Jasper apologised.

A tiny girl was then standing in front of Larten. He didn't like children and had to refrain from recoiling. Nessie reached out her tiny eight year old sized hand and placed it on his arm. Larten gasped as the whole of the conversation they'd just had replayed in his head, but from her point of view. "I can put my thoughts inside your head." She said simply in a tiny top soprano voice. Larten stared in horror at the little girl as she skipped back and plonked herself in Jacob's lap who kissed the top of her head affectionately. This new information certainly didn't encourage any fondness for children.

"I can read everybody's mind." Announced Edward as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Apart from three." He clarified and anybody who hadn't been watching the bronze haired boy turned to look. "Bella's, Darren's and Larten's. I don't know why. I just can't hear anything." He shrugged.

Carlisle's brain that had already been cooking up a few of his famous theories now whirred off on its own tangent yet again.

"Do you mind me asking where we are exactly?" Asked Larten trying to get his head around all that he had just been told.

"Forks, Washington!" Boomed the large one who he'd borrowed the clothes off – Emmett.

"Washington D.C? America?"

"Not D.C, Washington State. In America." Larten did his signature nod. _Why on earth would Tiny send us here? _"Where are you from?"

"England, London originally."

There was an uneasy moment where everyone was silent, this being particularly odd in the Cullen house.

"Do you mind me asking _what_ you and your son are?" Asked Carlisle hesitantly. "Of course you don't have to say if you don't want but I'm curious."

"That is fine, I have been wondering about you myself. My son and I are vampires."

There was a collection of outcries. "B-b-but that's impossible." Spluttered Carlisle. "_We_ are vampires."

"It cannot be!"

"But, but-"

"Never in all my years have I heard of another vampire clan!"

"Nor in mine!" Exclaimed Carlisle.

Larten started pacing. (Limping.)

_Why would Tiny do this? _He wondered.

"Who's 'Tiny'?" Asked the one called Jake. Larten's head snapped up, he hadn't realised he'd said it aloud. His pacing re-commenced.

"The man that sent my son and I here."

"What did happen to you both? And how did the man send you here without you knowing where it was?"

"I do not know what happened to Darren, we did not have chance to speak for that long once we were reunited in the forest but he said it was around a year and a half after me. We were in the middle of a war back in our world. This particular battle we were in happened in the sewers below London. I was fighting their lord and two of his protectors."

Larten got lost in his memories, his pacing quickened and the words flowed from his mouth without thought. "We were on this raised platform they had put up in the place were we met, there was a pit of steel stakes below with fire coming up in between." He shuddered. "I managed to kill their lord but they managed to kill me in return."

Everyone else in the room was confused. Larten barely paid them any attention, needing to sort things out in his own head.

"I hit stakes but then I was in that white world and it did not feel that long and then Darren was there as well and he was injured and then he was fighting with Mr Tiny. Tiny. He sent us here, he said that Darren had tricked him and that was going to punish us for his deceit. And then there was the portal to the forest…" Larten trailed off but kept his pacing round the entryway.

The others in the room were speechless, staring at the man as he now mumbled unintelligible mutters under his breath.

_Psycho! _Thought Rosalie.

"You poor dears!" Cried Esme taking a step towards him naturally.

Larten's head snapped up to the Arra look-alike, he shook his head in realisation that he'd just spilt all of this to a load of strangers.

"What do you mean you'd died?" Asked Carlisle, thoroughly confused. "Who is this Mr Tiny?"

Larten took a deep breath and leaned against the banister of the stairs. His leg was hurting. He decided to tell them, they could have important information and he was fairly certain that they would not be able to kill him; Desmond would not have sent them here for them to be killed easily if his aim was punishment.

"Desmond Tiny controls time. He creates new worlds for fun and purposefully creates conflicting races for his sick enjoyment when they fight and kill each other. Like the vampires and vampaneze. We-"

"'Vampaneze'?" Interrupted Edward. Larten rubbed his scars as he thought; an old habit.

"In the past all the vampires were one, many of them looked down upon the humans as animals and thought nothing of draining them dry when they fed unlike the rest of us who – like we do now – only take as much as we need when we feed. Humans began to notice so the council made laws forbidding unnecessary killings. Most obeyed the new law but some saw it as betrayal of our cause, they believed that humans had been put upon the earth as food for them. It was ludicrous since it's humans that get turned into vampires in the first place.

"Several hundred years ago, as the…disputes became more and more frequent; a group of them broke away from the clan and declared themselves a whole separate race, the vampaneze. They established their own rules and rulers. The vampaneze believe that it is noble to drain a person whilst feeding and absorb their spirit; they think it dishonourable to take only small amounts at a time.

"Gradually their appearance changed as well with the gluttony of blood. Their skin turns blotchy and purple, their eyes, nails and lips turn red and some of the older ones' hair even goes redder. A huge war broke out between the two groups; many of each side were killed. But then the humans who we vampires were essentially trying to protect, got in the way.

"The humans noticed the increase in the numbers of killings and went on the rampage on both the vampires and the vampaneze. The vampires had been winning and probably would have continued to if the humans hadn't interfered. As things came to critical levels, the vampire Princes met with the vampaneze and discussed a truce, they would stop killing so openly and the war would stop.

"The pact worked and the humans stopped hunting us thinking they were safe. The vampires and vampaneze moved away from each other to keep the agreement and the two clans have had very little to do with each other since. Apart from the occasional clashes and _challenges_ naturally."

"Challenges?" Echoed Jasper.

Larten remembered having almost this exact same conversation with Darren all those years ago. **(A/N: This has basically been re-worded from a conversation in the third book.)**

"We vampires are proud creatures. We live roughly and like to challenge ourselves, we are forever testing ourselves in fights and though humans and animals are interesting, if a vampire really wants to test themselves then it is not uncommon for vampires and vampaneze to agree to a duel and fight it out to the death.

"Other than these occasional skirmishes, there was nothing between the two races. Until recently. Mr Tiny relishes chaos. He loves it. Things were going on far too peacefully for his liking so he basically started the War of the Scars between us. He made leaders out of members from each clan and set them against each other in a constant game of cat and mouse for his own amusement; the winners would dominate the other clan and take them out entirely. From our clan the leaders were Darren, a few of our friends, and myself."

There was silence as the information settled in.

"But, you said that you'd died, how would this Mr Tiny do this if you were dead?" Asked Carlisle.

"I do not know." Answered Larten truthfully. "Desmond is immensely powerful and – I think – can go between both life and death but I do not know how he did this. I should have been much more injured than I am if the process of my death was complete so I simply do not know how he did it."

"You said that you both died. The war could be lost." Noted Esme quietly, thinking of all those poor people who would die if these 'vampaneze' came to power.

"I have been thinking of that myself but the battle that I died in should have been the last. I killed their lord. I do not know if the fighting continued, it should not have done and Darren may have gotten himself killed some other way. Mr Tiny spoke of a deceit when he sent us here so I have no idea until I can talk to Darren."

"Where are you from again?" asked Edward almost half jokingly.

"I have been thinking of this also, I suspect this is one of Tiny's other creations. An alternate universe so to speak." Larten produced one of his theories.

There was silence again.

"So, is Mr Tiny like Doctor Who?" The tiny voice of Nessie popped up from across the room.

"Who?" Asked Mr Crepsley.

"He's a fictional character in a television series. He is a time-lord who travels back and forward and between universes in his spaceship, meeting aliens and stopping bad things from happening." Explained the small one called Alice. **(A/N: Review if you know what TARDIS stands for!)**

"I suppose." Agreed Larten with a small smile. "Except Desmond does not have a spaceship and he will be the person creating the problems, not solving them."

More silence followed. The Cullens were having a hard time processing all the new information. A different universe? Different vampires? Vampaneze?

"Of course you and your son can stay with us for as long as you should both need!" Esme said emphatically, taking pity on the two poor men.

All eyes snapped to her then Carlisle nodded. "Yes, of course you can." He agreed.

"No, I could not; it is such a generous offer. Darren and I cannot repay you as it is. Thank you but-"

"Nonsense!" Declared Carlisle as he warmed up to the idea.

There was a dull and sudden thud followed by a groan from upstairs. Darren's room.

"Darren!" Mr Crepsley whispered, his eyes snapping to the ceiling.

**A/N: Yes! Another chapter finished! Sorry to leave on such a cliff-hanger but I've got to keep you people entertained n some way eh? **

**I had another snow day today but there are suspicions that school shall be on tomorrow. Shame. So, you won't be seeing another update as quick as this one was but there should be one quite soon, I hope, the storyline is really starting to pick up (from my writing point of view) the first couple of chapters are always the hardest. **

**The POLL is still up, GO VOTE, if you haven't already. **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated, I'm making an effort to reply to all those I can as well. Sorry if I have missed yours out, it wasn't intentional!**

**Maniacinthemaking x**

**I love the snow :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Feverish

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Darren Shan and Stephanie Meyer. I own nothing. **

**What has happened so far: **Darren and Mr Crepsley get sent to the Twilight world where they meet Edward and Bella in the woods. Edward and Bella bring them home and Carlisle treats them. Mr Crepsley explains to the Cullens that they are vampires and who the vampaneze are, he explains who Mr Tiny is and that he sent them there.

**Song Suggestion: **Sick Cycle Carousel by Lifehouse**  
Chapter 4: **Feverish**  
Third Person POV**

All of a sudden there was a dull thud coming from upstairs followed by a particularly Darren sounding groan.

"Darren." Whispered Mr Crepsley, his eyes flicking to the ceiling followed by the others apart from Bella who looked up in confusion after noticing everybody else was.

Mr Crepsley was the first to start running upstairs and the first to reach the top despite his injuries. Carlisle and Edward were the next to arrive soon followed by Jasper and Emmett in case back-up was required. There were multiple thuds coming from the room now and sounds of a struggle.

Larten flung the door open almost ripping it of its hinges in his haste. Darren was lying on the floor tangled up in the blanket from the bed. He cringed into the flooring and shook wildly rolling around and convulsing on the carpet. It looked like he was having a seizure of some sort. The strange smell from before was there again but much stronger.

Mr Crepsley surged forward to kneel beside his thrashing assistant. "Help me restrain him!" He called to the others. The other four did so, rushing forwards to help. Carlisle took the boy's head between his hands, Darren's eyes rolled around inside his open eye sockets, his mouth opened and closed and vague sounds would emerge as if he were suffering extreme pain.

Edward took Darren's left arm, Mr Crepsley his right and Emmett and Jasper each of his legs. Still Darren struggled against them as he tried to twist and turn; his hands clenched into fists, clawing at the carpet and ripping shreds of it with his long sharp nails. His skin was boiling and sweat covered his forehead. Carlisle rested a cooling hand there. "Thirty nine point nine degrees. He has a fever." He announced accurately.

"Do you smell that?" Asked Carlisle.

"Yes, it was here before too but I thought it was just the anaesthetics." Larten replied.

"That isn't anaesthetics."

Mr Crepsley thought for a moment as he restrained Darren's arm from destroying anything else. _No, it could not be! _

"Hold down his shoulder." Instructed Larten to which Carlisle did immediately. Larten was now able to lift and straighten out Darren's arm without his body being able to move. He made a small incision in Darren's right forearm with his thumbnail. A thin line of blood trickled out and the smell got stronger. Larten raised the blood on his finger to his mouth to taste, he rolled it over his tongue once, his face contorted in disgust at once and he spat it out.

"Charna's guts!" He bellowed. "Stupid boy!" It was vampaneze blood and, if he weren't mistaken, he could have sworn it tasted off, bad, remarkably familiar but unable to place.

Alice arrived at the open doorway a minute later as Mr Crepsley's thought's raged with theories. 

"Two more minutes." Announced Alice from behind them. Darren lashed about on the floor. Odd yelps and half screams of pain would emerge from his mouth as his body jack-knifed wildly in their grasp.

The wait passed torturously slowly and in that time Bella had arrived at the door also. Eventually Darren's convulsions slowed till he was only shaking lightly. The shaking continued to diminish and then Darren was fully still, his head lolled to the side and after another moment in their wary restraint, he started snoring very softly. There were seven identical sighs of relief.

"We should probably move him back to the bed." Said Carlisle quietly.

Larten nodded. The others stepped back to allow him to lift Darren's now very limp body to the bed.

A shallow gasp came from Alice as a vision took hold of her. Edward's brow furrowed at what he saw inside her mind. "Edward!" She warned as soon as she came out of it. The warning was too late.

Jasper caught Edward's body as he collapsed onto the former's shoulder. Was it possible for vampires to collapse?!

Jasper Edward out on the carpet carefully. Bella tried to rush forwards to her fallen fiancé's body but Alice held her back with a restraining arm. The visions she was having were confusing, she couldn't make sense of anything.

Edward started tossing and turning on the floor. They were in perfect synchronisation with Darren's slight movement on the bed but more pronounced. "Darius!" Edward suddenly mumbled. "Vancha?" He continued talking under his breath but it was low and contorted, no words could be distinguished.

"How is he doing that? What is going on?" Demanded Larten. Before Carlisle could answer Alice did.

"I don't know, I think he's reading Darren's thoughts. His dreams. Do you know this Vancha and Darius?"

"I know of Vancha only."

"Shancus!" Edward moaned this time as if in great pain. A small whimper came from Darren on the bed. All eyes flickered in question to Mr Crepsley who just shook his head. Jasper's unnecessary breathing became laboured as the emotions rolling off the pair increased. His face contorted, his fists clenching and unclenching as he got the full force of the pain and anger and _fear_ from them both.

Edward continued to toss and turn on the floor for another ten minutes or more as the others tried to restrain his movements, beings of their strength and power could do some damage if let loose. Jasper sat further away, hands shaking with the overload of emotions from both of them. He attempted frequently to send out calming waves, he could feel them working on the others but not on the ones who most needed it. Alice crouched down on the floor next to Edwards struggling form, rubbing her temples at the headache that built painfully in the back of her mind.

In the ten minutes, the last four had arrived at the door to see what was going on. The lights had been turned on and there was a small circle that had formed around those either involved or restraining the involved.

The mumbling and tossing slowed till it had all but stopped then without warning Darren and Edward sat up at the exact same moment and Edward hissed "Steve!!!"

Edward blinked repeatedly as he came back to himself and Bella was finally released to catapult herself into his lap worry incessantly about his wellbeing. Darren on the other hand flopped backwards, his battered body unable to hold his weight. He coughing and retched horribly at the last of the river water left in his lungs came up and trickled out the side of his mouth. He moaned, hands instinctively going to his sided where it hurt the most. He blinked bleary eyed at a ceiling he didn't recognise, realising, despite the pain, that he was lying on something far comfier than he should have been. He tried to focus his fuzzy vision then panicked when he could see his spectators. _Where the hell was he? Who the hell were these people?!_

"Darren!" Said Mr Crepsley being the first to his side.

His voice was hoarse, "w-where are we?" and with that question, Darren eyes slid closed and his head lolled to the side in sleep. Mr Crepsley fussed over him much like the father figure he was pretending to be. Cherries of blood were beginning to show on the bandage at his abdomen.

Jasper sat in his corner, unthought-of yet by anyone other than Alice. He gulped large breaths of unnecessary air, the attacks on his senses now over. Alice sat cross-legged on the ground, continuously rubbing her temples though the headache had subsided after Edward and Darren woke. Edward was the one everyone else was worrying about.

Edward was sitting up by now, holding a sobbing Bella in his arms because she had been so overcome with the fear and shock of the whole experience. He calmly reassured everyone of his wellbeing as they crowded him on the floor.

"Enough." Said Carlisle as his entire family bombard him with questions as to what was happening, like he had anymore answers than they. He looked between his ruffled family members – they were fine with any outside disaster until it affected one of them. He studied Larten fussing over the boy, Jasper, Alice and then Edward and his onlookers.

"We need to talk." Carlisle announced loudly and briskly to get their attention. Darren stirred at the noise. "Downstairs." He announced and promptly walked over to Darren, assessing his condition, medical persona firmly in place. The others followed their head-of-family's order and shuffled out the room to wait downstairs.

Carlisle replaced the Darren's dressing with the medical kit that lay beside him. He took a syringe and small vial from one of the pockets of the green box, showing the bottle to Larten before extracting a little of the clear liquid. "It will help to ease his pain." He reassured as he found a vein in the forearm and pushed down the plunger without hesitation.

Esme was busy in the kitchen when the last two descended to the living area below. Silence fell on the usually lively room. "I hope you like spaghetti!" Esme called from where she worked over the a humungous bowl of sauce, she wore a cheerily fake smile to mask her tension. "I mean, if you eat…"

"That would be very nice, thank you." Replied Larten, ever polite.

Edward saw sat with a sniffling Bella in his lap, her faced buried in his neck whilst Alice sat beside them, rubbing her back with gentle pats. Jasper and Emmett rolled their eyes at each other, finding the petting of the only human in the room highly amusing and Rosalie smirked at Emmett's and Jasper's antics. Edward glared at them all.

Nessie sat in front of Jacob who was brushing through her hair gently with his huge fingers.

Carlisle went to join Esme in the kitchen as they all tried to pretend like they weren't stifled by the tension. Larten did not quite know where to put himself. He was so alienated from them, he didn't belong here. Physically, he seemed much more human than they; but they acted so much more human than he. Larten wasn't a human, he didn't know how to handle the family type atmosphere – his family had died _so _long ago.

Esme placed four plates of pasta on the breakfast bar but only two others stood. Jake was the first to the table, pulling two plates in for himself which explained the extra one. Bella was next and then Larten paused for a second before sighing and going to join them. The meal was delicious and it was only once he began did he remember how long it had been since he'd last properly eaten anything.

He slumped in his seat which was hard to do since he was sitting on a stool. It had been a stressful day and he needed to feed. The blood would give his repairing body the sustenance that human food couldn't.

Edward came to join them at the table once they'd finished. "I've been thinking." He announced. Larten looked up warily. "About the mind reading: what about a sort of 'mental wall'? So to speak." Larten furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing. "What if it was like a subconscious barrier around your thoughts? Which when you fall asleep drops?"

"It is a possibility." Said Carlisle from behind.

Mr Crepsley scratched his scars whilst thinking. "Possibly. But what happened upstairs? Does that happen every time you read minds?"

"No. I've been thinking about that too. What if, going with the wall theory, when Darren's mind came open, mine somehow got caught inside?" Edward messed his hair as the others watched him. "I know that sounds far-fetched but that's what it felt like, it was like I was stuck inside Darren's head."

"Would you like something to drink Larten? A cup of tea perhaps?" Asked Esme suddenly.

"Yes please. What did you see inside his mind then?" He addressed the latter part to Edward.

"It was confusing. There were many people there; it looked like some sort of…battle. Everyone was standing in an arena and the people across had that purple skin and there were some human there too with rifles. Could they be your vampaneze?"

"It sounds like it."

"But the humans? Why would they have humans with what you said earlier?"

"Vampets." Mr Crepsley answered after a sip of his tea. "The vampaneze use them as a disposable fighting resource. Vampires and vampaneze are fiercely honourable – most of us anyway – and we believe hand-to-hand combat is the only honourable way to fight. This does not apply to humans and the vampaneze simply do not care about human wellbeing so they prove useful."

Edward nodded before continuing with his story. "There were all these people that were rounded up who looked like…performers or something?" _The cirque!_ Larten digested this new information with growing worry for his friend Mr Tall though little did he know the truth. "And then there was a boy hanging. He was covered in…green scales…?"

"Evra!" Larten's eyes were wide with sadness for the dead snake boy who had travelled with Darren and him years ago.

"Not Evra." Interrupted Edward looking confused. "Shancus." It was Larten's turn to be confused.

"That's where it got hazy." Continued Edward. "There were flashes of a boy, about ten or eleven by the looks of it: Darius. And then there was…a river…?" He was having difficulty holding onto the fragments of the dream. "And there was this man who'd been stabbed, odd looking bloke, red skin, green hair and-"

"-Purple animal hides as clothes." Larten finished whilst rubbing his face with his hands. "Was Vancha dead? Still conscious? Did it look like he would survive?!"

"Yes he was conscious but…it was a large sword."

Larten's hands shook as he took a gulp of tea. "But this was a dream. It is not certain. It is not definitely the truth." He pressed.

Edward only meant to comfort when he agreed with this stranger sitting across from him. He decided not to mention how vivid the dream was. Vivid like a memory.

"What about the seizure?" Asked Carlisle. "The smell and the blood?"

Larten rubbed his face for the fifth time in as many minutes then scratched his crop of ginger hair with sharp nails. "The blood of the vampaneze. I do not know how it has happened but there was vampaneze blood in Darren's veins. Their blood is poisonous to vampires and vice versa, it causes convulsions like those although I am sure the purge was not helping either."

_"Purge?"_

_"Blood?"_

_"Poisonous?"_

All were spoken at once and each from more than one person. "How would the blood get into him?"

Larten sighed and got ready to explain. _Why not let them know everything about us? _"Vampires – and vampaneze – are converted by pumping the blood of an existing vampire/vampaneze into that of a human through small cuts on the fingertips," he held up his hands to show the ten little scars, "every vampire and vampaneze have them hence the name, War of the Scars.

"Darren is only a half-vampire, made by not putting as much blood into him as you would full vampire but he is going through the purge for the second time. It is where the vampire cells turn on the host's human cells, like a battle going on inside your own body. If the human cells win, you stay a half-vampire and live to go through the purge again at some later state. If the vampire cells win then you become a full vampire. It is a short process, about four/five weeks, your body goes through many changes and you age quickly over that process especially if you have not reached full adulthood yet like Darren. It can be very painful – growing pains and the like.

"The cells go hyperactive: the ears become supersensitive as well as the eyes which can cause headaches and such. The host experiences flashes of great energy then suddenly no energy at all. By the end of this, Darren will be a full vampire, he will be stronger and tougher and faster, his eyes and ears will stay so sensitive and instead of ageing one year every five human years, he will age one year for every ten human years.

"It is possible to convert someone from half-vampanism to vampirism, or the other way, but it is a dangerous and painful process. If the conversion if successful, there will be many seizures like we saw upstairs and both hosts will experience many changes in their body before it finally rids itself of the poison and the functions regulate again. If the conversion is unsuccessful, both will die.

"My guess as to what has happened is that Daren has tried to convert another and it has worked though he has to now suffer the consequences. That or somebody has tried to convert him to vampanism and Darren's hyperactive vampire cells are fighting a slowly loosing, excruciating battle at the end of which, he will die."

Carlisle with the rest of his family stared openly at the man who sat calmly in front of them sipping at his now lukewarm cup of tea.

"Do the rest of you not eat?" Asked Larten, motioning to the other vampires in the room. "Only Jake, the girl and Bella have heartbeats but only one is human. Though I suppose you already knew that."

Carlisle answered. "Indeed Bella is human, Nessie is a half-vampire, she can eat but chooses not to and Jacob here is a were-wolf."

Mr Crepsley cocked his head to the side studying Jake. He was huge with impressive muscles, dark skin and a strong whiff of animals and trees about him. "I take it you do not spend your entire time in your wolf form then. Full moon?"

Jake snorted. "It's actually shape-shifting into the body of a wolf. And yeah, I can control it. Please don't go spurting any bull about the moon or silver bullets and I won't about sunlight or coffins."

"Coffins are not _'bull' _and nor is the matter of sunlight!"

"Whoa dude! You actually sleep in a coffin? That whole burned by sunlight stuff?" Emmett piped up from the back.

"Yes we do sleep in coffins. Stepping in sunlight will not kill full vampires or anything equally as dull, but we burn easily and exposure of anything longer than a few hours could be potentially fatal. There is also the matter of our eyes being so sensitive, the light is painful. Working by night is much more practical and it helps to cover our movements. Half-vampires are able to move freely in the sun and their eyes are not as fine tuned so they are able to live more human lifestyles. I suppose this is not the same for you…?"

"We don't sleep," answered Edward, "there is no need for coffins if we do not sleep. Sunlight will not harm our bodies or our eyes but the light makes our skin sparkle." Larten scoffed internally at the mental image of him sparkling. "And no, we don't eat. Our kind typically drink human blood though our family decide to only drink the blood of animals out of compassion. We call ourselves vegetarians as a sort of insde joke."

"Why do you not just feed a little at a time like my kind?"

"It is impossible. Once the feeding frenzy starts nobody can stop it." Alice answered. Bella reached for Edward's hand below the table and gave in a small squeeze.

"You should try living off animal blood, it is difficult at first but it gets easier. It stops you from hurting humans." Esme placed a soothing hand on his arm.

"I could not. Without human blood we cannot survive, anyway we do not harm people when we feed." Replied Larten whilst moving his arm from under her grasp subtly, _too many memories. _"How would one become of your kind then?" Larten asked, confused. _If they do not have blood…_

"Our saliva is venomous; all it takes is a bite." Emmett answered first. He chomped his teeth together with a sharp click that would have been menacing it he hadn't laughed.

"Fangs?"

"No just sharp teeth."

Larten nodded, taking in all this information in.

"But the girl...Nessie? How would that work?"

"It's complicated how it happened but my dad was a vampire and my mom was a human. I was born in this kind of in between state."

Larten regarded the child with the look of a man surveying a rabid dog. He yawned and scratched his eye. His brain was sluggishly tired with the pain meds, the content of a full stomach and a headache brewing like a thunderstorm about to strike from not feeding in such a long time.

"I think I shall have to retire for the day." He announced without the intent of going to bed straight away. The clock on the wall showed 5:15pm. "It is far too early for anyone to be awake."


End file.
